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Category: transhumanism

An interview with Laura Weston, medical doctor and artist, on transhumanism and rejuvenation.

The belief that science and art run on parallel tracks is largely unsubstantiated, and Dr. Laura Weston—a scientist, an artist, and a LEAF volunteer—is a great example of this. Dr. Weston is both a molecular pathologist and a painter, and she has recently launched her own art gallery. Being a passionate life extensionist and, more generally, a transhumanist, Laura undertook this project because of her belief that art can and should take part in shaping a better future for everyone; art hosted in her gallery will certainly do this in the traditional way of conveying a message but also more directly, since part of the proceeds from sales will be destined for conservation charities, medical research, and even LEAF—which we are all most grateful for.

Artists and art enthusiasts who want to make a difference for important causes, including life extension, now have their chance to do so by contributing their own art or buying their favorite works. Pieces hosted at Katrin Brunier—Laura’s nom de plume—are examples of abstract works inspired by transhumanist themes; you can admire a sample below or visit the gallery’s Instagram page.

Jupatian Storms

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It’s a philosophy best exemplified by Wood’s book released last month, Transcending Politics: A Technoprogressive Roadmap to a Comprehensively Better Future, which starts by declaring politics “broken,” technology as something that “risks making matters worse,” and deems transhumanism the force that can fix it all “comprehensively”:

David Wood, a transhumanist who co-founded Symbian in 1998, is working to develop a transhumanist superdemocracy that uses the best parts of artificial intelligence and communication to draw on the likes of Zoltan Istvan and Peter Thiel in a new movement to create longevity and sustainable abundance for all.

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The human eye is a remarkably sophisticated organ and like the lens to a camera, it’s the cornea that focuses the flood of photons into a perceptible image. But for an estimated 15 million people around the world, eye disease and trauma make surgery the only path to clear vision.

In the next few years, artificial corneas may become more accessible thanks to new research out of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. There, researchers mixed stem cells from the cornea of a healthy donor with collagen and algae molecules to create a bio-ink, which they 3D-printed into an artificial cornea. The research is currently just a proof-of-concept but lays the groundwork for future techniques to create low-cost, easy-to-produce bionic eyes.

There were three features required for the bio-ink, according to Che Connon, a professor of tissue engineering at Newcastle.

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I’ll be speaking at the exciting Future Flux Festival on the Heroes of Innovation program section on June 15 in the Netherlands. Come join me! https://www.futurefluxfestival.nl/…/heroes-of-innovation-z…/ #transhumanism

Transhumanism is the field of merging human beings with machines and radical science. The field has grown from fringe to a nearly mainstream social movement. Today, there are tens of millions of transhumanists around the world, many who are scientists and technologists focusing on overcoming biological death with innovation. The movement got a major push when Zoltan Istvan, a former journalist for National Geographic, published his bestselling philosophical novel The Transhumanist Wager. In 2016 Zoltan ran for the Presidency of the United States as the nominee of the Transhumanist Party. His campaign was broadly covered in major media for nearly two years, and it helped spearhead the transformation of transhumanism into a thriving worldwide phenomenon. Always wanted to know more about transhumanism? See you at the Future Flux Festival!

Zoltan Istvan is also part of our Heroes of Innovation panel. After their presentations you can ask our panel anything. Take a deep dive into the minds of these great innovators!

More information about Zoltan Istvan: www.zoltanistvan.com.

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Long story in The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/…/biohacking-transhumanism-aa… #transhumanism #biohacking

On the morning of 29 April, staff at the Soulex spa in Washington DC discovered the lifeless body of one of its clients lying face down in a sensory deprivation tank. The body was that of 28-year-old Aaron Traywick, who less than three months earlier had injected himself live on stage at an event in Austin, Texas, with an untested gene therapy that he claimed could cure herpes.

Stories soon spread about the discovery of Traywick’s body, with some inferring a potential link between the DIY herpes treatment and his untimely death. But those who knew the young entrepreneur and were familiar with the work he did suspected something much more sinister.

Traywick was part of a fringe but steadily growing community known as body hackers – or biohackers – whose modest goal is to cure disease, end ageing and ultimately stop death. “Why this test is so important,” he said on stage in Austin, just before injecting himself in the leg with the therapy, “is because if we succeed with herpes in even the most minor of ways, then we can move forward immediately with cancer.”

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This in depth story has recently been translated to English: https://ciencias.uautonoma.cl/…/we-want-to-declare-ageing-a…?

Zoltan Istvan is currently a Libertarian candidate for Governor in California, also former 2016’s US presidential candidate for the Transhumanist Party and he is known around the world as someone that advocates for Transhumanism, a public figure in science and technology.

Dr. Marcela Gatica-Andrades and Nadia Politis from Science Communication Center interviewing Zoltan Istvan.

Pictures: Pablo Madariaga

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A new podcast I did that talks about #transhmanism:

Zoltan Istvan is a transhumanist, futurist, author, and journalist. He’s a former reporter for National Geographic, ran for president in 2016, and is running for governor of California in 2018 under the libertarian party. In this episode we got into what transhumanism is, what his policy platforms are, and tackled a lot of the questions people generally have around these topics. Enjoy!

Follow Zoltan at @ zoltan_istvan on Twitter.

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A new article out by Vicki Larson at the Marin Independent Journal that explores some #transhumanism.

I visited my parents’ grave on Mother’s Day, as I have every year since my mom died in 2010. I’ll be back on the 23rd, the fifth anniversary of my dad’s death.

I was fortunate to be able to tell them how much I loved them and appreciated everything they did for me before they died, so there are no regrets, nothing left unsaid. I miss them. A lot. But would I want to bring them back to life?

They’d no doubt be delighted to see the wonderful young men their only grandchildren have become. And I think they’d be pretty happy to know that I actually did get around to writing a book as I promised them I would as a teen, when I begged them to let me travel cross-country with friends to gather “research” for my Great American Novel instead of spending the summer working.

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